11 Sep :The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has convened the first science colloquium in New Delhi on ‘Earth Observations and Earth Sciences for Societal Benefits’.
This event on 11-12 September, 2008 follows the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between MoES and NOAA on 16th April 2008 by former MoES Secretary, Dr.P.S.Goel and Vice Admiral Conrad C.Lautenbacher, Jr.US Navy (Retd) Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA administrator and was in response to the recognition of the importance of cooperation on the Global Earth Observations System of Systems (GEOSS). Topics discussed included enhancing Indian Ocean Observations, improving monsoon and weather forecasting, and climate monitoring and prediction.
Co-chaired by Dr.Shailesh Nayak, Secretary of MoES and Dr.Chet Koblinsky, Director of NOAA’s Climate Program Office, the colloquium resulted in the signing of three implementing arrangements (IAs) on Climate Monitoring and Prediction System for the South Asian Region, Climate Model and Ocean Assimilation Analyses for the Indian Ocean Region and Development of the South Asian Regional Reanalysis (SARR) to advance Understanding, Modeling, and Prediction of Monsoon, NBBDC Hydroclimate Variability and Change.
Talking to media persons on the occasion Dr.Shailesh Nayak, Secretary, MoES said that Collaboration by MoES and NOAA is essentially to develop scientific understanding of Earth Systems for societal benefit areas such as weather, climate disaster and monsoon. He said that the colloquium is planned to identify current state of knowledge, identify gap area and plan future activities to improve the existing services to the society.
According to Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., NOAA and the Ministry of Earth Sciences forged a partnership to our combined scientific and technical skills to enhance our observations of the Earth and use that information to benefit society. He said that this science colloquium, with some of the best scientists from both nations, highlights the state of our knowledge in areas that affect the lives and livelihoods of people in this region and around the world, such as monsoons, climate, cyclones, and tsunamis.
The newly signed IAs compliment the on-going IA efforts on Research moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and prediction (RAMA) for Improving Weather and Monsoon Forecasts, which was signed concurrently with the MoU in April, 2008. In addition, future projects planned include technical and scientific cooperation related to satellite data applications, greenhouse gas measurements, and tropical cyclone forecasting. Both sides have tentatively agreed to hold the joint committee meeting for MoU in 2009.